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David Beckham is staying in Los Angeles, PSG president says

January 3, 2012 | 7:31
am

David Beckham will be staying in Los Angeles, according to the president of the French soccer club that had been trying to lure the English superstar away from the city that has been his home since signing with the Galaxy five years ago.

“David Beckham is in Los Angeles,” Paris Saint-Germain President Nasser Al Khelaifi said at the Qatar Open tennis tournament Tuesday. “And he's going to stay there.”

Beckham is said to be working with the Galaxy on a new contract, possibly for two years, something that could happen as early as this week.

When his initial five-year contract with the Galaxy ended last year, Beckham was believed to be as good as gone from Los Angeles. PSG went after the 36-year-old midfielder hard, with French media reporting that the organization would have almost doubled the annual base salary of $6.5 million Beckham was earning with the Galaxy.

But Beckham, his wife, Victoria, and their four children are said to be quite happy living in Los Angeles. And Beckham is finally enjoying the kind of success he had hoped for when he signed with the Galaxy, which won the MLS Cup in November.

So after weeks of negotiations, Beckham will not be joining PSG, Al Khelaifi confirmed Tuesday.

“David Beckham is not coming,” Al Khelaifi said. “We feel a little disappointed. But both sides agreed it would be better that we not do the deal … maybe in the future.”